A 75-ton liquid fueled engine undergoes a combustion test at the Naro Space Center on Oenaro Island in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, in this file photo. / Courtesy of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute

By Park Jae-hyuk

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province ― The second Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-2) will be more powerful than any North Korean rocket, a project leader told reporters at the Naro Space Center on this southwestern island, Wednesday.

"Of course we've lagged behind North Korea in space technology, as we have yet to develop our own rocket," said Ko Jeong-hwan, executive director of KSLV-2 research and development at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

"If we accomplish our development, however, KSLV-2 will be superior to the existing Unha-3 rocket of North Korea in various capabilities such as output."

Among surrounding countries, South Korea is the only country that still lacks its own self-produced launch vehicle.

North Korea, on the other hand, brought Soviet-made Scud missiles and reverse engineered them with the help of Russian technicians in the 1970s. As a result, it developed its own rockets.

The reclusive state has already launched a three-stage solid fuel rocket in December 2012 ― a month before South Korea sent a two-stage KSLV-1, or NARO, to an altitude of 300 kilometers.

"From the beginning, we aimed to develop a space rocket, not a missile, using liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants," Ko said.

The researcher was also confident of the upcoming projectile's thrust.

North Korea revealed photos of an 80-ton thrust engine combustion test last September, but Ko explained the KARI has also been doing a 75-ton thrust engine combustion test.

"Still, we should keep an eye on North Korea to know which rocket the country will make with such engines," he said. "It is not certain whether researchers there successfully developed the engines and whether they are making a missile."

Striving for successful launch

The KSLV-2 project aims to develop a three-stage 300-ton rocket that can send a 1.5-ton satellite to a low-Earth orbit. Unlike its two-stage predecessor, which was jointly developed with Russia, Korean researchers have led the whole process of the project.

The KARI ultimately seeks to explore the moon with a space rocket by 2020.

A test-launch of a 75-ton liquid engine is scheduled to take place in October next year, almost a full-year delay from the original plan of this coming December, due to technical problems discovered last year.

Critics at that time pointed out the government came up with a wildcat plan to carry out the test-fire before former President Park Geun-hye would have finished her five-year term.

However, the launch of the three-stage rockets are expected to take place in December 2019 and June 2020, as initially scheduled.

At the space center on Oenarodo Island, researchers have continued to test 75-ton and 7-ton liquid engines. Each of those engines has completed more than 20 combustion tests so far.

The three-stage KSLV-2 is designed to include the first stage with four 75-ton liquid fueled engines, the second with one 75-ton engine and the third with a single 7-ton engine.

"Liquid fueled engine technologies are hard to acquire from other countries, so we had to develop the engines to master the knowhow," Ko said. "For now, we're sure about our engines' endurance."

Long way to go

According to the KARI, space technology powerhouses such as the United States, Japan and Europe have long been working on their next generation space launch vehicles.

Lately, the U.S-based SpaceX accomplished the launch of its Falcon 9 reusable launch vehicles. The American aerospace manufacturer has commercially used its rockets as well.

"Demanding that we make a reusable vehicle is like forcing a newborn baby to run," said KARI researcher Han Young-min. "But we would be able to reduce a huge amount of cost, if KSLV-2 is commercialized."

Most of the researchers at the space center agreed that the direction of the government policy is one of the most important factors for the successful development of the nation's aerospace technology.